Document Type
Thesis - University Access Only
Award Date
2009
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department / School
English
Abstract
This thesis explores the political aspects of Ernest Hemingway's Spanish Civil War literature, focusing on how the socio-political tensions of this era affect the author's construction of narrative. I argue that the author's own developing socio-political relationship with the war dictates the political portrayals within his work, and I study the ways the characters react within this political environment. Examining how and why Hemingway composed during this period offers insight into the psychology of the characters he imagines. This thesis, moreover, relies largely on historical and biographical evidence in order to explain Hemingway's political and literary evolution throughout the Spanish Civil War. Analyzing Hemingway's Spanish Civil War works in this manner yields a comprehensive view of the colliding cultural and social ideologies at this time. Ultimately, this analysis will show Hemingway's political trajectory, and how that trajectory manifests itself within his art. I trace this political arc by first analyzing To Have and Have Not, then move to the documentary film The Spanish Earth, and finally tum to four Spanish Civil War short stories and the novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, to complete the study.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
Hemingway, Ernest, 1899-1961 -- Criticism and interpretation
Spain -- History -- Civil War, 1936-1939 -- Literature and the war
War in literature
Format
application/pdf
Number of Pages
138
Publisher
South Dakota State University
Recommended Citation
Hendrickson, Tony, "The Evolution of an Artist: Hemingway Writes the Spanish Civil War" (2009). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1580.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd2/1580
